Mini Chess Thread 01-20-2018

A Real Man's Study

Remember, the chess thread is (also) an open thread, so it is impossible to post a comment that is OT.

Easier Problem - White To Play (606)

I think that the correct first move is rather obvious. So obvious, in fact, that many of you will probably be tempted to immediately yell "Woohoo! Solved another one!" and run a victory lap. Not so fast. Because Black has a reply that will render your first move null and void, and you'll be stuck -- unless, of course, you find the correct White response. So your answer should be of the form:

Note: that cryptic line of letters and numbers you see underneath each board diagram is a representation of the position in what is known as "Forsyth-Edwards Notation", or F.E.N. It's actually readable by humans. Most computer applications nowadays can read FEN, so those of you who may want to study the position, you can copy the line of FEN and paste into your chess app and it should automatically recreate the position on its display board. Or, Windows users can just "triple click" on it and the entire line will be highlighted so you can copy and past it into your chess app.

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So that about wraps it up for this week. Chess thread tips, suggestions, bribes, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to my yahoo address: OregonMuse little-a-in-a-circle yahoo dott com.